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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

With an uncertain economic climate, processors are now more than ever looking to cut costs and foster long-term financial stability. It’s no surprise that the energy-intensive nature of processing leaves many producers vulnerable to rising electricity and fuel prices. These financial motivators coupled with new environmental guidelines and strict industry regulations are prompting many processors to reassess how to most effectively meet their energy needs.

To maintain consistent accuracy, torque wrenches must be checked periodically for wear or defective parts. A properly structured preventive maintenance program optimizes tool performance and reduces unexpected downtime, thereby saving time and money.
The more often a torque wrench is used the faster it will wear or go out of calibration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama wants to cast some light on economic success stories in the shadows of a slow recovery. And he is looking to find some more.
On Friday, the president travels to Schenectady, N.Y., birthplace of the General Electric Co., to showcase a new GE deal with India and announce a restructured presidential advisory board to focus on increasing employment and competitiveness.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Eric Schmidt, a technology veteran brought in as Google Inc.'s "adult supervision" a decade ago, is relinquishing the CEO job to Larry Page, one of the prodigies who co-founded the company behind the Internet's dominant gateway.
The surprise shake-up announced Thursday appears to be driven by Schmidt's desire to tackle other challenges as much as Page's personal ambition.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Dwindling domestic demand for C-17 cargo planes will force Boeing Co. to slash 1,100 jobs at its U.S. plants, most of them in Long Beach where the aerospace giant has cut 13,000 jobs since the 1990s, the company said Thursday.
The 900 jobs in Long Beach and 200 jobs at plants in Mesa, Ariz.

Mitsubishi Motors North America plans to produce a new model at its plant in Normal, Ill., extending the life of the facility just a month after employees agreed to lower wages the company said were needed to keep it open.
Mitsubishi announced the plans as part of new, global business plan aimed at revitalizing the troubled Japanese automaker.

NEW YORK (AP) — Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar is urging a stronger trade relationship between the U.S. and China on the heels of the Chinese president's visit to the U.S.
The Peoria, Ill., company, the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, said Friday it inked a memorandum of understanding as part of the U.

DETROIT (AP) — The new chief of product development at GM holds what is arguably the most important job in the company: coming up with cars and trucks that people want.
There also are a few extra goals on Mary Barra's list: Make the stuff faster and raise its quality.
Barra, a 30-year veteran of General Motors, was named head of global product development on Thursday.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is facing her first big lawsuit after saying the state would try to keep unions out of the Boeing Inc. plant in North Charleston.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Charleston by the International Association of Machinists and AFL-CIO asked for a court order telling Haley and her director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation to butt out and remain neutral in matters concerning union activities.

Riten Industries, Inc. (Washington Court House, OH) has redesigned its CNC Sprint series live centers, which feature an accuracy to ±0.00004 TIR, the highest bearing capacity available in centers of that size, and a full-length spindle for maximum rigidity. The new design allows for deeper cuts, a better surface finish, and an extended service life.

Lenox Instrument Company (Trevose, PA) has announced the release of the Twist-A-View Borescope, which allows for full 360° inspections of tight, restricted areas with a simple twist of the scope. The rotation is made possible by a 90° right angle viewing adaptor. The 4mm diameter allows the 28” borescope to be used in tight locations, and produces a high-resolution image with 17,000 fiber optic pixels.

Master Bond (Hackensack, NJ) has developed the Supreme 33, which is formulated for structural applications in extreme environments with temperatures from -80 to 425°F. The two-component epoxy offers high structural bond strength while resisting thermal cycling, thermal shock, and impact, according to the company.

By using variable data printing systems for case coding, a food manufacturer has ensured its cases always include clear, accurate printing.
Kettle Foods is passionate about making the best-tasting all-natural chips in the world. Since its beginning in 1982, the company has perfected the kettle-cooked style of potato chips, and today, Kettle Brand® potato chips are available in supermarkets and natural foods stores in all 50 states, as well as in Canada, Asia, and Western Europe.

The IRS has issued proposed regulations (REG-149335-08) affecting taxpayers required to pay “sales-based royalties” upon the sale of inventory. The guidance, issued in the form of proposed regulations under the “uniform capitalization rules” of section 263A, largely is taxpayer favorable and may confer substantial tax benefits on affected companies.

Television host Dylan Ratigan recently joined the "cast" of Morning Joe to discuss the state of American manufacturing. He says that while the Federal Reserve has done much to help manufacturers get out of the current slump, our tax system is still too restrictive to encourage solid growth.

Watson, which IBM claims as a profound advance in artificial intelligence, went up against Jeopardy! champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter last week in its television debut. Watson held its own in a short practice round, and it will appear on Jeopardy! as part of a million-dollar tournament that will be televised next month.

It wouldn't be that hard to build a toaster from scratch, right? It's no surprise that even the simplest of toasters is the result of a pretty complex process, but as Thomas Thwaites proves, creating something from raw elements to finished product in the modern era is simply not possible for the layman.

If you heard anything about CES this year, or just like following information on the newest TV technology, you know that the big issue with 3-D technology is that it generally requires those clunky glasses to work properly. Well, one French engineer has solved that problem completely! I won't spoil the surprise, but I will say that it involves blinking.

Apple Inc.'s stellar holiday-quarter results were enough to make investors forget, at least for the moment, that CEO Steve Jobs is taking another medical leave of absence.
The company was able to boost production of iPads faster than analysts predicted, and shoppers bought iPhones as fast as Apple could make them, helping drive the company's fiscal first-quarter net income up 78 percent from the prior year.